Montana State Sen. John Bohlinger champions public service law for RPCVs
Read and comment on this letter from the Billings Gazette on Montana State Sen. John Bohlinger who championed a law to allow those state employees who performed public service to compensate the state's PERS to, in turn, get retirement credit for Peace Corps time served at:
* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.
Bohlinger champions public service law
Several years ago a small group of returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) began the arduous effort of enacting a Montana law. For most of us, this was new ground at every step with lots of opportunity to fail. The law, if enacted, would simply allow those state employees who performed public service to compensate the state's PERS to, in turn, get retirement credit for Peace Corps time served.
Our bill (SB145) became a law in April 2003. Although the allowance we sought and received is allowed by other states and the federal government, it was new to Montana and the bill's passage was not assured.
Early in the process of enacting this bill, Billings' Sen. John Bohlinger volunteered to carry this bill for us. Bohlinger eloquently presented and defended the bill before both the Montana House and the Senate. At no step did he waiver in his support for RPCVs. Now that SB145 is a law, RPCVs and others who heed the call of federal public service and then work for the state of Montana will have the opportunity to have their public service recognized. We are grateful to Bohlinger.
Tom Lemke
Livingston
Julie Flynn,
Mike Lee,
Jim Lewis
and Mike Wherley
Helena Click on a link below for more stories on PCOL
Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; RPCV Benefits
